Favorite Food Reads

About Us

What breathes life into MyEpikorean is a love for scrumptious food and in particular, Asian fusion cuisine. Lee's roving tastebuds drive her to create new fusion recipes while her friend and gifted photographer Petties captures it all on camera.

Our New Philosophy

Previously, MyEpikorean’s philosophy centered mostly on sharing delicious and healthy Californian Asian Fusion recipes. While we still maintain our philosophy of food as fuel and medicine and feverishly shake our heads at sacrificing flavor, we now recognize that health is about much more than what goes into your mouth or how much you exercise. Our purpose, therefore, is two-fold: first, we intend to continue and provide delicious Asian fusion-style recipes; second, we will offer ideas about how to combine these dishes in a balanced way, creating themed brunches, afternoon teas, or dinner parties for those you love the most.

At end of the day,

your tummy, heart, and mind should all be sated!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

When is a cookie not a cookie? When it's an uncookie! Dubbed "uncookies" because they are not baked, these flavorful cookies, mixed and pressed into shape, are more at home in your fridge than the oven. So, satiate your sweet tooth in a guilt-free way with flourless, gluten-free, sugar-free Uncookie Cookies. Packed primarily with fresh ground flax seeds, walnuts and almonds and naturally sweetened with honey and maple syrup, omega-3 fatty acids charge this cookie with power to preserve and promote healthy bones and protect against heart disease, cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure.

The coolest crumb bit about Uncookie Cookies is that the recipe may be tailored to fit your favorite cut of cookie. Choose from chocolate chip chocolate to cinnamon raisin and peanut butter. This cookie crumbles your way!

Uncookie Cookie Recipe

~ Yields 2 dozen 2 ½ - 3 inch cookies

RoastThe nuts should, ideally, be roasted, but if you subscribe to the raw foods faith, you may also choose to only warm them up to 116 F°. For the full raw version of this recipe, please see the recipe variations below.

2 cups walnuts1 cups almonds

1. Set oven for 160-170 degree F°. Roast nuts on cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes. Alternately, you may also toast them on a heavy-bottomed pan over low heat.2. Set aside to cool.3. Finely grind the nuts using a food processor.

Note: A blender has too small of a base to properly grind large quantities of nuts.

GrindThis recipe relies heavily on a heavy duty blender and food processor. I opt for mostly whole spices because they keep fresh longer than pre-ground store-bought spices, which after a time, taste like dust.

1. Use a very powerful blender to grind the spices and salt. 2. Sweep the spices into a big, non-metallic mixing bowl, and do not rinse the blender. 3. Pour flax seeds into the blender and grind them into a fine meal. 4. Combine flax seed meal with ground spices and salt.

MixWhen purchasing maple syrup, grade B is better than grade A because it is less processed and has a full maple flavor and thicker consistency. If you like molasses and spice cookies like Joe Joes or ginger snaps, feel free to ante-up the spices, kick in some ginger, and substitute molasses for honey. Do keep in mind, however, that molasses is not as healthy as honey or maple syrup. See below for cookie variations.

1. Drizzle the melted butter over the cookie mixture, and mixing with a wooden spoon, make sure the butter is evenly distributed and integrated into the mixture.2. Add maple syrup, honey and peanut butter and mix well.

ShapeI use plastic saran wrap to shape the cookies and then vacuum seal and refrigerate them. You may also use silicon molds, but these cookies, when first shaped, are very delicate, so they must firm-up in the refrigerator before being served.

1. Cut a 12" by 12" piece of saran wrap.2. Scoop two to two and a half heaping tablespoons of cookie mix onto the saran wrap.3. Press the cookie into shape.4. Vacuum seal the cookie. You will notice that as the cookie compresses, some of the liquids pull away, which allows the cookie to better retain shape.

ServeIf you used a silicon mold to shape the cookies, place them in a paper towel lined tupperware container and refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving. If you vacuum-sealed the cookies, snip the edge of the plastic bag, without breaking the seal, so the freshness of the cookie is retained till the cookie is torn and ravaged from its protective casing.

1. Add 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger2. Increase the cinnamon to 3 teaspoons and nutmeg to 2 whole pieces.3. Substitute 1/8 cup of honey for 1/8 cup of molasses. 4. When shaping the cookies, scoop a heaping tablespoon and half of the cookie mixture onto saran wrap, rest a few raisins on top of the pile, and then scoop another heaping tablespoon of cookie mix atop the raisins, sandwiching the raisins in between the cookie mix before compressing the cookie.